It's snowing again in New Jersey. I'm in for the day and all I want is to stay warm and enjoy some comfort food. Meatloaf has always been a comfort food for me, moist and juicy, and paired with mashed potatoes, yummm!
My Mom's recipe for meatloaf was very simple: chopped beef, bread crumbs, eggs, parsley, onion, salt, pepper, milk, and her secret ingredient, tomato sauce. The milk and the tomato sauce keep the meatloaf moist and juicy. I still use this as my "go to" recipe for meatloaf, but have made a few changes. She did not use garlic in her meatloaf or meatballs because my brother didn't want to have garlic breath when he went to work :) She continued to leave it out even after he no longer was at home. I like garlic in mine, and I found that if you saute the onion and garlic before putting it into the meatloaf mix it has a milder flavor. I also like to use a "meatloaf" mix, ground beef, veal and pork. It makes a tastier loaf. And of course, I now use gluten free bread crumbs. I always make enough for 2 loaves, it is great for leftover sandwiches.
Mom's Meatloaf, My Way
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet onion, minced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
3 eggs
1/4 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 8oz can tomato sauce(reserve the other half for the top)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chopped parsley
Salt/pepper
Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil until softened. Cool. Mix together eggs, breadcrumbs, milk, tomato sauce, mustard, Worcestershire, parsley, salt pepper. Add the meat and cooled onions/garlic. Mix together until combined. (Hands are good for this!)
Shape into 2 meatloaves and place in 9x13 baking dish. Spread remaining tomato sauce on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
For an alternate topping: Mix together 1 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar. Use half for the topping and reserve the other half to spoon on the cooked meatloaf slices.
